Training camp

SANTA CLARA – Last week Anthony Dixon had two showdowns with Patrick Willis on the practice field. Dixon won the first one, giving Willis a hard helmet-t0-helmet hit, but Willis won the second, stripping the ball from Dixon in the backfield and seemingly twisting the backup running back’s ankle. Today, Dixon shed some light his injury, or non-injury, and his confrontations with Willis. He also compares the coaching styles of Jim…

SANTA CLARA – I just participated in a group interview of Ricky Jean-Francois. He explained to us that he’s been playing all three positions on the defensive line, but mostly right end behind the starter Justin Smith. This seems to suggest Jean-Francois will be the first defensive lineman off the bench. It also suggests undrafted rookie Ian Williams has a good chance to make the team as a backup nose…

According to Pro Football Talk, The 49ers will resign Safety Dashon Goldson to a one-year contract. This is a good thing for three reasons. You can never have enough good players on a football team, and now the Niners have four good safeties – Goldson, Donte Whitner, Madieu Williams, and Reggie Smith. It protects the team from injury. On Saturday Reggie Smith removed himself from practice – coach Harbaugh said…

Today’s the first break in the action of the 49ers training camp, so let’s take stock of the organization. I apologize if this is redundant. It seems like the appropriate exercise for this off day. Have the 49ers improved from last year? They’ve lost six starters. They are: Nate Clements, Dashon Goldson, Takeo Spikes, Manny Lawson, Aubrayo Franklin, and David Baas. They’ve also lost some backups: David Carr, Troy Smith,…

SANTA CLARA – After warm-ups and drills, the real practice started with a 9-on-9 goal line scrimmage. It was the first team offense against the first team defense, but backup Anthony Dixon lined up at tailback instead of Frank Gore. Alex Smith hiked the ball and handed it off to Dixon, who chose to bounce his run outside to the left. This was a bad move. Patrick Willis caught him…

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers new starting strong safety, Donte Whitner, spoke in a group interview this afternoon. Whitner recorded the fifth most tackles in the NFL last season, and the most amongst defensive backs with 140. In this interview Whitner describes the philosophy of this new Vic Fangio defense in more depth than any member of the 49er defense has gone on record so far. He makes compelling comparisons…

SANTA CLARA – I participated in a group interview with third-year backup tackle Alex Boone. He starts with praise for Aldon Smith, and then he talks about his own role on the team this year. I included almost the entire 10-minute interview because Boone had some great lines. He’s a funny guy. Enjoy. Q: What’s it like to go against Aldon Smith in practice? BOONE: What’s it like to go…

Niner42 and mcniner felt I skimped on the practice notes, and I aim to please, so here’s some more. Most of training camp has been fully padded but light on tackling. The lineman bang into each other, but the skill positions basically play two-hand-touch. Jim Harbaugh constantly reminds the players to “Keep them up! Keep them on their feet!” He doesn’t want any injuries. Today was a full-on tackling day,…

SANTA CLARA – Before I get to the good and not-so-good of the day, here’s a funny scene from the 49ers first practice in front of fans. During 11-on-11’s, Alex Smith threw one pass at Ted Ginn’s feet on a five-yard out. The fans didn’t boo, but they gave a collective “oooooo,” and the stands got uncomfortably quiet. Suddenly, a lady in the front row lost it. She yelled right…

SANTA CLARA – Taylor Mays ended practice this afternoon by breaking up a touchdown pass. On the last play of the first-team offense’s two-minute drill, Alex Smith dropped back from the 10-yard line and spotted Vernon Davis open in the middle of the end-zone. Smith zipped a pass on target to Davis, but Mays closed in quickly and slapped the ball out of Davis’ hands. It was one of the…

SANTA CLARA – The hands in question belonged to Carlos Rogers. They hid underneath the cornerback’s armpits as he answered a group of reporters’ questions this afternoon. They were hiding because he spoke with his arms folded across his chest. Rogers’s hands are his biggest source of criticism. His former team, the Washington Redskins, did not resign him because they didn’t like his hands. They thought he dropped too many…

Head Coach Jim Harbaugh was the first person to speak at the podium after practice. He was winded at the beginning of the interview and he was sweating. He spends a ton of energy coaching during practice. He participates in every drill he watches. It’s good to see a coach so actively involved. Here’s the complete transcript, courtesy of the 49ers, of his fascinating interview. Play close attention to what…

Alex Smith spoke to the media after his first day of real, live practice. He spoke about getting rid of the rust and the excitement of the competition with Colin Kaepernick. As always, he was the perfect gentleman. Read and enjoy. This is courtesy of the 49ers. On what it feels like to be back with Braylon Edwards again: “Yeah, as far as the same draft class. I got to…

Braylon Edwards spoke in the media tent after his first practice with the team this evening. Here’s the complete transcript of the interview, courtesy of the 49ers. On whether he thought he would play for the 49ers when he visited the team facility prior to the 2005 NFL Draft: “Back then, I was thinking it was possible. I thought there was a chance that I could go first to this…

SANTA CLARA – Practice was windy and cold in the Santa Clara dusk. Braylon Edwards lined up with the first and second-team offense today and looked good, considering he’d been on the team for about an hour. He caught a few short passes and hustled hard. Madieu Williams stood behind the defense with secondary coach Ed Donatell and took mental reps. Donatell seemed to be talking Williams through the plays….

According to Jason La Canfora, the Collective Bargaining Agreement will be ratified by 1 p.m. Pacific Time today. However, La Canfora also reports that the NFL Players Association has issues with the HGH testing and will not sign off on that issue, but this is not expected to hold off ratification. If it is indeed ratified, that means all the free agents the 49ers signed should be able to participate…

The 49ers just issued a revised schedule for practice tomorrow. It’s probably so their free agents can get on the field after the Collective Bargaining Agreement is ratified. Player availability is from 3:30 to 4:00, and that’s only half an hour so I hope the players talk fast. Practice goes from 5:00 to 8:00, and Jim Harbaugh and Alex Smith have press conferences at 8:00, so it will be a…

Greg Roman spoke to the media at the podium after practice today. It was the first time he spoke at the podium this training camp. He spoke at length on the progression of the offense, Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, Vernon Davis and Frank Gore. He had the highest praise for Davis and Gore. Here’s the transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. On how he is doing: “Feeling great, it’s great to…

SANTA CLARA – Matt Maiocco asked Vernon Davis after practice if there will be a quarterback competition in training camp this year. Here’s what Davis had to say. DAVIS: I can’t really jump into that because that’s not my deal. I leave that up to the coaches. I’ll let them decide that. I’m sure they strongly believe in Alex along with the rest of the teammates and myself, and we…

SANTA CLARA – When you watch Aldon Smith work individually with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, you think, “Here’s a rookie with a lot to learn.” Today Fangio worked with Smith on the blocking sleds, and he’d repeatedly stop Smith to work on his technique. Fangio wanted Smith to hit the sled, rip away to the right and square up. But Smith wasn’t squaring up, he was ending up sideways. Parys…

Inside the 49ers: Grant Cohn

I cover the San Francisco 49ers year-round for The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa. Argue with me, agree with me, or just read the posts and follow the conversation. I've been a contributor to several other regional and national sports websites, and I also write two online columns a week for pressdemocrat.com, which are posted on this site as well.